Entering Equestria: The Spartan and The Elite
by iOptimumReaper
Summary: Soldier, a person who serves in an army. A textbook definition. The real definition is; one who fights for what they feel is right. I know my days as a soldier have been action packed, which I've come to see as normal, but sometimes... things just don't turn out to be that type of normal you're used to. (R63 Fanfic on the MLP side)


**-Location Unknown, Date April 8****th**** 2558-**

"Of course." I muttered under my breath. We were lost for the third time today. We've been walking through this forest for what felt like forever, searching for the exit. The canopy above is too thick to see through so we've been guessing what time it is and going off that. The fucking forest only had two light settings; barely lit and pitch fucking black.

"Why do you become frustrated over our navigational difficulties? This forest is very lush and beautiful, we should enjoy it as we travel." Atrn 'Shanak, my best friend and blood brother Sangheili, stated.

"Artie, I don't know if you've noticed but we're running low on rations, on an uncharted planet, low on ammo, and no way to contact any of our people. Now, unless you have a plan on how we could get out of this god forsaken forest, shut up." I unlatched my helmet and ran a gloved hand through my long brown hair.

"We could follow that trail over there." He pointed to his right. I followed his finger to where he was pointing and noticed the narrow trail.

I turned towards him and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for yelling at you and not listening to what you had to say."

"You were angered at our current situation and let it get to your head, you had little control over what you were going to say and for that I accept your apology." He said with his signature Sangheili smile, which is enough to put fear in anyone's heart since it's so creepy.

I put my helmet back on and proceeded to the narrow path. "And that is one of the reasons why I call you my blood brother, you're willing to put up with my shit." We both chuckled at that. Then I realized something, Gabriela sent out a UAV when the ship crashed. Gabriela was my suit's AI that I've had for a good five years. She's pretty good at what she does, but not as good as 117's dead AI Cortana… He was a wreck after she died… and now, he wonders the galaxy searching for a way to bring her back. When I was with him one time he kept saying he could hear her voice, accusing him for not saving her. I then decided to check up on Gabriela. "Hey, uh… Gabby… how are you holding up?"

I waited for her to respond but received no answer.

"Gabriela, I know you're mad at me, but we really need that footage from that UAV you sent out."

Again, no response.

"Please Gabby, I'm sorry." She could be a stubborn bitch sometimes… but what I tried to do to her when we crashed was… uncalled for. I tried to shut her down and all it did was make her angry at me. Now she won't speak to either of us.

I felt Artie put a hand on my shoulder. "Eclipse, I think you should let her rest, she needs time to calm down."

I looked up at Atrn and nodded. "Alright, I'll leave her to herself for now." I never realized how tall he was, of course he wasn't a towering giant, but he was at the least a few inches taller than me. After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached a small hut with some suspicious looking blue flowers in front of it… which seemed to be where the trail ends… "FUCK!" I threw my hands to the sky in anger. "We come across a trail and decide to go down the wrong way! Like seriously, what the fuck!?"

Artie attempted to calm me down. "Sister, please calm down. There is no need to be upset about a simple navigational mistake."

I slowly turned towards him and looked him dead in the eyes. "Simple? What's so simple about us being completely lost on an uncharted planet and, the worst is, this forest has been playing tricks on us for the past two days."

He tilted his head to the side. "Have we really been here for that long?"

"I don't know!" I angrily sat myself down on the ground and took off my helmet. "I guess what we should do is wait for Gabriela to stop being angry at me and have her send out another beacon."

Artie walked over and sat down next to me. "Do not fret young one, we will escape this forest soon." He claimed in a quiet and calm tone.

I always hated it when he called me young one, of course it was true… he was about 3 years older than me. But I still hated when he called me that. "You promise?" I asked.

"I promise that we will escape this forest soon."

I gave him a toothy grin and pushed him a little. "Don't make a girl a promise that you know you can't keep." We both had a laugh at that and waited… this place seemed to be the best lit area of the forest.

We sat there for what felt like forever but turned out to only be about five or ten minutes… and that's when the voices started to appear. They were distant at first and we could barely make out what they were saying, but they were there. It was a male and a female. Artie and I probably heard them at the same time cause we snapped our heads in that direction before turning back towards each other.

"Hide." I whispered. He went for one bush while I went for the other. I reached for the Katana on my back and slowly pulled it out of its sheath. This Katana was a gift from my Father, he would make blades for the UNSC and made me this Katana when he had a few extra supplies from work left over.

When the voices were clearly audible, bodies came along with them. Although I couldn't see Artie, I knew he was doing the same thing I was doing… staring at the scene before us in disbelief… It was a female Griffin and a male zebra walking along the path, and they were talking with one another. They were actually talking, in English none the less. The Griffin wore a black and white zip-up hoodie with some black jeans, and the Zebra wore nothing.

I decided to stop being amazed and listen in on what they were saying. "So you're like a chemist?" The female Griffin asked.

"No, I am what is known as an Alchemist, one who studies alchemy. Chemistry is used for science instead of mixing helpful remedies." The male zebra said with rhymes.

"That's pretty cool. Also, since you basically live in this forest, what do you know about the thing that came from space earlier today?" The female Griffin questioned. Earlier today? It felt like we've been walking through this god damned forest for a good three days.

"I do not know much, but there was a bad mojo coming from such." The Zebra shrugged. How the hell can a Zebra shrug? That's anatomically impossible for Zebras to do.

"First contact situation," Gabriela said "start it now or I start it for you."

"Gabby, I know you're ma-" I started in a hushed whisper.

"I seriously don't give a flying fuck right now, make first contact or I'll start controlling your suit." She ordered, and that's where the stubborn bitchiness steps into play.

I let out a sigh of defeat and started to stand up. That caught the two's attention almost instantly. I slowly put down my katana and backed away from it. The griffin took the opportunity to pick it up and pull out her own sword. "What's your name and your species?" She questioned in a dark tone.

"My name is Eclipse, my species is human. I am a super soldier, Spartan 752, and my current rank is Commander." I answered in my own dark tone.

"Analyzing." Gabriela stated idly.

"Did you get on this planet through the thing that fell out of the sky this morning?"

"Yes, that was my ship. I lost many good men and women when that thing crashed, I'm the only survivor…" I said the last part solemnly to give away the act that I'm alone.

"You're a terrible liar, especially when you're wearing your helmet, now take it off." She then pointed my Katana to where Artie was hiding and looked over there. "And you can come out of hiding."

I could tell Atrn was looking at me for approval and I just simply nodded. First he raised his hands out of the bush he was hiding in and then raised out of it himself. "We come in peace?" He says uneasily.

"Name, species, and occupation, in that order." The way she spoke made me remember how I used to be when I would find a potential hostile; stoic expression, icecold speech, and a stare that will burn holes through a squad of ODSTs like they were warm butter.

"Atrn 'Shanak, Sangheili, Special Operations Soldier." He stated with a hint of pride. He was a Spec-Ops soldier and worked his ass off to get there so of course he was going to be damn proud about it.

The Griffin gave a light chuckle and turned back towards me. "Two soldiers of different species?" She put away her sword and tossed mine to me, I would have caught it but I've always had butterfingers. It slipped from my grasp and fell to the ground with a _clang_. "Sucks, you got butterfingers." The Griffin laughed as I picked up my sword. She put a claw on the Zebra's shoulder and turned towards him. "It was nice meeting you Zicoro, but I gotta report back Ponyville with my findings."

"Until our paths cross again, Miss Gabriela." Zicoro said as he bowed his head a bit. The Zebra then continued his walk towards the hut, carefully avoiding the evil looking blue flowers.

The Griffin looked back at me and smiled. "My name's Gabriela Artren, it's nice to make your acquaintanceship." She offered her claw in a handshake and I accepted it. Her grip was strong and unwavering. "I've heard many things about your species from idle chat with Harpsy. I'm pretty sure some of it was inaccurate but hey, bad intel is better than no intel." She shrugged and signaled us to follow. She started making her way back the way the Zebra and she came from, we followed behind from a good distance.

I leaned towards Artie and dropped my volume to a whisper. "Five bucks says she walks us straight into a trap and we'll have to do slave labor for the rest of our lives."

Artie thought about the wager and turned to me. "You're on." He stated while he stuck out his hand. We shook hands and the bet was set into motion. After one long ass walk through the god forsaken forest we reached a small town that looked completely deserted.

"So… this is the Ponyville" I state with a hint of vigilance "the place you're supposed to report back to."

She stopped in front of the town and turned around to face me "Stop being so stiff, it's a nice little town that I call home and proud of it for the past three years." Gabriela stated with a smirk on her face. "Now let's go meet the crazy locals." She then continued her walk back towards the town after adjusting her hoodie.

Our walk through the town was a little strange, since there was no one around and I can constantly hear whispers from the buildings that surrounded the street we were walking through. This place may have seemed like a ghost town, but I was well aware of the things hiding in the buildings. I got closer to Artie and whispered into his ear.

"Do you hear the whispers too?" I ask, starting to reach for my sword.

I saw his hand slowly reach down to his Energy Sword. "At first they were faint, but now they are growing stronger." He whispered back. A shadow of a cloud hung over us, and I could feel eyes staring down at us. When I looked up I saw nothing but the cloud. Gabriela stopped in front of a tall building located in the middle of town and signaled us to wait.

She walked up to the front door of the building and banged her fist against it. "HEY MUSTANG!" She shouted between sets of banging. Finally there were some unlocking sounds and she stopped banging.

The door opened to reveal a small tan horse with a silver and gray mane and tail wearing a monocle with a tattoo of a rolled up scroll on his ass. "Is he gone?" It asked in an official sounding voice, instantly I could tell it was male.

"Yeah, he's gone now call off the state of emergency." Gabriela replied.

The small horse gave a sigh of relief and pulled a megaphone out of nowhere. "All clear!" He shouted into it before noticing me and Artie. He stared in awe as he slowly put down the microphone. "And what are those things?" It asked slowly.

Gabriela turned around and pointed to me. "Her name's Eclipse" she pointed at Artie "and his name is Atrn 'Shanak, they're the newest soldiers." She turned back towards the horse with a smirk.

The small horse deadpanned, "The metal monstrosity is fine but I will not allow a demon from Tartarus protect my town." He stated solemnly.

Artie growled at him as Gabriela facepalmed. "If he was a demon from Hell he wouldn't be standing there peacefully." She removed her face from her claw. "Mayor, I don't tell you how to work your job so don't tell me how to choose my soldiers."

I cut in to the conversation, "Wait a second, since when are we your soldiers?"

Gabriela looked at me with a blank face. "You're either going to be a part of my battalion, or you're going to have an entire army chasing you across half of the world." She stated. I looked at her with my own blank expression, although she couldn't see it through my helmet, and stepped forward. "Trust me, _The General_ would want two like you in his army."

Artie put a hand on my shoulder and stepped forward. "We accept your offer." He stated in a monotone.

Gabriela smiled and signaled for us to follow. "Good, we need to go meet the rest of the soldiers and get you two situated." She walked away from the small horse and continued down the street. "Good day Mustang." We followed behind her. After a good twenty three minutes of walking we finally stopped in front of a few buildings that looked surprisingly similar to some UNSC barracks.

There was a sign in front of one of them that said _Casa de Bad Company_. Gabriela walked up to that one, opened the door, and signaled us to enter. When Artie and I got in I recognized the place to be an intelligence office. Several ponies in camouflage fatigues were sitting at desks doing paperwork. An orange and blue Pegasus looked up from his desk at the sound of the door opening.

"Are you here to see Colonel Artren?" He asked as he slightly pulled down his glasses. Just then, Gabriela walked in and he snapped at attention. "Atten-hut." He announced and all the ponies around the room stood up and stood at attention.

As she walked to the office at the end of the room she explained what went down around here. "All the soldiers you see here are above the rank Sergeant Major and below Major, except Specialist Traynor over in the corner he's here for intelligence." a black and gold unicorn near the large office gave a salute "Everyone else either leads a squad or is in charge of making sure everyone is in order. They are all under my command for I am the Colonel." She stated with a wide smirk. "I'm the only high ranking officer of the Equestrian Military to be of a different species, due to specific orders straight from _The General_ I am not to be ordered by anyone ranking higher than me other than _The General_ themselves."

We finally reached the office and she led us inside. It looked like a normal office that a high ranking officer would own. The only thing that really stood out was the fact that the chair wasn't facing the door but instead the window in the back of the room, that was currently open. "Well Colonel." A voice called out from in the chair. The chair started to turn around as the voice continued to speak. "It's almost time for you to-" the chair was fully turned around to reveal a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail.

Gabriela walked around the desk and pulled him out of the chair. "Please stop breaking into my office just to see me Blitz." She said as she closed the window and sat down in the chair. The cyan Pegasus was still staring at me and Artie in awe. "Stop staring, it's starting to get weird."

The Pegasus shook himself out of his daze and looked at Gabriela. "So who's the demon?" He asked as he pointed at Artie.

Artie growled at him and the Pegasus got into a defensive stance. "Boys, stop fighting and act your age." Gabriela requested as she pulled out some papers from the desk. She handed me the papers and I started to look them over, they seemed like recruitment forums. "I suppose you're going to be the one handling the forums?"

I looked at Artie and the Pegasus to see them literally at each other's throats with death glares. "If Artie is going to be acting like this for any second longer, than yes I'm handling the forums."

"What are you doing?" Gabby asked, appearing to the right of my HUD. "You're still signed up for the UNSC and aren't allowed to be in any other form of military while you're enlisted."

"Shush, I know what I'm doing." I whispered back as I sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Blitz, if you'd kindly go get Maddie from SAA that'd be great." Gabriela suggested to the Pegasus.

He broke his gaze away from Artie and nodded. "Sure, be back in a dash." The Pegasus then left the room the proper way instead of going out the way he came in.

**-Sweet Apple Acres, five minutes later, POV Maddie-**

After a hard day of working Applejack and I finally got to sit down under our favorite tree to take a nap… Of course with the universe being a jerk, we didn't get to rest for too long. After about three minutes of us lying down Rainbow Blitz crashed in and decided to rest on a branch right above us.

Applejack's and my eye's snapped open to see the cyan Pegasus hanging above us. "Sup guys?" He asked with a grin.

I was the first to respond with a smile on my face, "Good evening Rainbow Blitz. We are doing good, thanks for asking, but besides that, how are you doing?"

He checked his hoof and rubbed it against his chest before looking back at us. "Nutin much, just being awesome as always. Anyways Gabby sent me here to tell you to report to her for some reason, it probably has something to do with the metal golem and demon."

Applejack sat straight up with a worried look on his face. "There's uh demon 'ere in Ponyville?" He asked wearily.

Blitz just shrugged. "It looks like a demon, wears gold armor and has four things sticking out of its face that have sharp teeth on them."

I nudged Applejack and he looked at me uneasily so I looked him in the eyes. "Jack, I need to go handle this with Gabriela." He nodded and got off my lap. "Don't worry, I'll be right back." I leaned in and gave him a kiss before taking flight to the barracks with Blitz in tow.

**-86****th**** Battalion Barracks and Command Center of Ponyville, fifteen minutes later, POV Eclipse-**

Finally all the papers were signed and we were declared members of the Equestrian Military. I handed Gabriela the papers, and her pen, with a smile on my face.

She looked them over for a little before looking at me and pointing at my helmet. "If you're going to be in the military you need to take the helmet off." She stated in a monotone.

I reached up, undid the latches on my helmet, and took it off letting my hair fall past my shoulders. And immediately I could tell she was observing the scar that ran from my temple past my right eye and to the bridge of my nose, in which I received when I first met Artie. He was a mean SOB back then, never took shit from anyone, and was loud as hell when he talked. Now he's calmer and more subtle.

"I like your scar, it really shows that you've gone through combat." Gabriela stated as she leaned back in her chair.

There was a knock at the door and we all turned to see a red dragon standing at the door at attention. "Ma'am, permission to enter?" It asked in a feminine voice.

"Granted." Gabriela answered and the dragon entered the room. "Shut the door and lock it." The dragon did as told and dropped her stance into a more relaxed one.

The dragon eyed Artie up and down before looking at me and doing the same thing. "I believe you called me here to help you out with this Sangheili and Human?" It asked.

"Well Maddie you seem to be our only expert on these two species other than _The General_, but she's probably drowning her sorrows in liquor like always." Gabriela shrugged.

I raised my hand half-way to stop the conversation. "Hold up, I just want to know one thing before we continue with this conversation." I interrupted.

They looked at each other, shrugged, then looked at me. "What do you want to know?" They asked in unison.

"Who is this '_General_' person?" They both looked at me a bit uneasily.

"Well…" Gabriela started. "Uh… You see… she's more of a myth that only Maddie and I can prove since we know her personally."

**-New Canterlot Castle, seconds later, POV ?-**

"_Pour me, pour me, pour me another!_" I sang as I grabbed another bottle of whiskey, I should probably stop since I've drank about two already. "_It holds me, holds me, like no other!_" I twisted the top off with my magic and took a swig. "_One more drink, then I swear I'm going home, truth is, I __don't__really have a place to go, so pour me, pour me, pour me another!_" Another swig of the fairly aged alcohol goes down the chute. "_Time just seems to go on and on, on and on, and on and on, life inside a bottle all alone, all alone, the bottle's gone…_" I sang slowly as I felt a lone tear roll down my cheek. "_I'm not just a mare with these broken dreams, even I can go to heaven, if I part the sea._"

A hand slowly reached out and wiped the tear off of my face. "Hey now, don't cry." The hand cupped my cheek and a finger slowly rubbed my muzzle.

"I can't stop thinking about him, Prophet." I whispered weakly.

"Shh… It's okay Jess. Trust me it's going to happen sooner than you think." Prophet stated as he put up the hood to my jacket. I slowly looked up to see the mask that he wears. The black butterfly on the right side and the white X on the left in front of a blue background. "I am sorry, but I must go. Another is calling upon me for assistance." He stated before slowly fading out of existence. I sat there for a few moments thinking about what he said.

"How soon?" I asked myself as I grabbed the picture frame next to me. Its picture depicted of Artemis and me on our wedding day dancing our first dance as a married couple.

There was a chime from the teleconference telling me that someone was calling. I got up off the bed and walked over to pick it up. When the screen finished connecting the video feature Maddie, Major Gabriela, and two other figures appeared. "General." Maddie said with a nod.

I nodded back and took another swig of Whiskey. "What is it this time Madeleine?" I asked her as my eyes adjusted to the bright screen.

"General, we have two new recruits that are not of any species known to Equestria that only I and you know anything about." She pointed to the Sangheili and the Human standing next to her.

"Human and Sangheili, both dangerous as hell and don't belong on this planet, what the hell are they doing here?" I spoke after taking another swig of Whiskey.

The human stepped up to the plate. "With all due respect sir-" She started, feminine voice means it's a she.

I slammed a hoof down on the desk. "I am a Mare and I will be addressed as such." I shot her death glare. "Now you will be respectful to your general and not question her upon anything unless advised otherwise, understand!?"

She adjusted her stance so she was straighter. "Ma'am, with all due respect we did not choose to crash land on this planet, it was our ship's computers that sent us here."

I took yet another swig of Whiskey. "Don't say 'with all due respect' cause all it means is kiss my ass." I lightly put my head down on the desk to make sure I didn't break the desk any further. "Now take out your AI and inject it into the slot on the side of the teleconference screen." I stated before taking another sip of Whiskey.

There was a scratching sound and then a ding, when I looked up there was a 3D image of a woman with short black hair wearing jeans and a too familiar hoodie standing in front of me. After a few moments of silence she decided to speak. "Greetings, I am AI G-A-B 0032-1 or known as Gabriela." She stated in a voice that is way too familiar for my likening.

I started to feel a wave of dread and anger wash over me. _You __didn't__save her._ I heard something say. _It's entirely your fault._ Another voice said. _You chose a mere mortal over your own sister._ The final voice said. "NO!" I shouted as I threw the bottle of whiskey I had against the wall and watched it shatter. I slammed my hooves on the desk, hearing an audible crack. I wiped all the papers and empty whiskey bottles off the desk in my bout of rage mixed with sadness.

"General?" I heard Maddie ask. I stood up, grabbed the chair I was sitting in, and threw it out a nearby window allowing Solaris' sun to shine into my room. "General calm down!"

I looked at the screen to see the human representation of Gabby no longer on the screen. "I never, **EVER**, want to see that… that… that **THING** ever again, am I understood!?" There was another moment of silence as I stood there fuming. "This conference is over." I slammed the button to stop the call and the feed cut out. The door to my room opened and I snapped my head over in that direction.

Solaris walked into the room with a concerned look on his face. "Sister, are you alright?" He asked in his soft tone that I always found annoying.

"First off," I started angrily "I am not related to you other than by law, so stop calling me your sister. Second off, **DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M OK**!?"

He took a step forward and shut the door behind him. "Please, Jessica, ca-"

A jumped at him and grabbed him by the neck. "Do not call me Jessica, she is dead and so is her family. She failed at what her only goal of protecting her family and look where she is now, **DEAD**." The door opened again and a guard poked his head into the room before pulling it back out and yelling something.

"Please, Firewall, calm down." He requested as guards started to pour into the room.

"Let Lord Solaris go!" One of the guards ordered as they surrounded us.

I looked at him with red glowing eyes and deepened my voice to as low as it can go, which makes me sound like Satin. "You are in no position to order me what to do."

They closed the circle a bit more. "Stand down." Solaris ordered.

"But, My Lord this intruder must be arrested for breaking into the castle." Another guard stated.

I growled at him and shot him a death glare. "This mare is not an intruder, she is royalty and deserves to be called such due to the sacrifices she has made."

"Stand down," A voice stated as the captain of the Royal Guard stepped into the room "I believe Solaris knows what he is talking about when it comes to other members of the royal family." She stated with a smile. "The myth of the General turns out to be real, just as old as Lord Solaris and Prince Artemis themselves, the one that nearly conquered the Griffin Kingdom with a small army."

I chuckled a bit and let go of Solaris, letting him fall to the floor. "It was not the Griffin Kingdom, it was a small rebel led state that the Griffin King couldn't handle at that moment. In which a small task force came in and helped us give it back to the King." I pulled down my hood and started to walk out of the room. "Now let us see what my kingdom has become of in the last nine hundred years."

**-86****th**** Battalion Barracks and Command Center of Ponyville, seconds earlier, POV Eclipse-**

We all stood there dumbfounded at what we just witnessed. A hooded figure that the dragon identified as _The General_, that appeared to be drunk off its ass, threw a temper tantrum in front of us before ending the call.

The dragon was the first to speak. She looked over at me and pointed to the chip Gabby rested in. "Where'd you get that AI?" The dragon asked.

I inserted it back into my helmet. "It was designated to me after I got out of Spartan boot camp. Why, what's wrong with it?"

She shifted uneasily. "I highly suggest you don't bring her anywhere near _The General_, it just reminded her of someone from her past that she never wants to see again."

"Was it an enemy of hers?" I could see the Griffin thinking heavily on something.

The dragon was about to speak but Major Gabriela cut her off. "Don't tell them, it is a personal matter that is not to be discussed with members of the military."

I chuckled a bit. "Sounds like you're keeping secrets from us."

She rested her arms on the desk and smirked. "You don't even know the half of it."


End file.
